The friendly skies have been cozying up to the iPad for awhile now. First, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration allowed pilots to replace hundreds of pounds of flight manuals and log books for Apple’s tablet, and now a new airline is promising to save fuel, increase profits and make their customers happier by phasing out the in-flight entertainment system in favor of a fleet of iPads.
The airline is a new startup called Scoot Pte, and they believe that they can vastly improve the flying experience from an economic, entertainment and environmental perspective by using iPads to replace those old entertainment systems, which as it turns out weigh over two tons.
That’s unbelievable. Cutting two tons off of every flight means that even after Scoot added more 40% seats, their planes will actually be 7% lighter.
Sadly, Scoot won’t automatically be giving an iPad to every flyer. Instead, they’ll be following the nickel-and-dime trend of so many airlines by charging economy-class passengers $17 to rent one for a flight.
Scoot’s a tiny airline now, and only operates out of Singapore, but I think this is the future, where airlines deploy fleets of iPads alongside their fleet of planes. Don’t be surprised if the next time you climb aboard a red eye, your stewardess asks you if you if you’d like an iPad instead of a newspaper as you board.
Source: Bloomberg